Being a two-way defenseman is crucial in today's NHL. With so much speed on the ice and little room for error, blueliners have to be equipped with the tools to stay effective on both ends of the ice. Perhaps no defenseman better exudes that than Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes, who earned his first James Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman Thursday night.
Hughes topped fellow finalists and former winners Roman Josi and Cale Makar for the honor, becoming the first Canucks player to win the Norris. He led all defensemen with 92 points on 17 goals and 75 assists during the 2023-24 season. Hughes is the fourth U.S.-born player to win the award.
“The reality of winning an award like this is you can’t do it alone and you need really good players around you, and I certainly have that,” Hughes said after receiving the award.
Hughes accepted the award in front of family, teammates and other NHL personalities. His brothers Jack and Luke Hughes, both members of the New Jersey Devils, were in attendance at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas.
“It’s surreal and probably hasn’t sunk in yet,” he said, per Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com. “It was a great season for me and for our team. Took a lot of steps forward individually and as a group, so really proud of the year.”
In his first season as captain, Hughes helped lead the Canucks to a division title and the third 50-win season in franchise history. Vancouver lost to the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Canucks captaincy helped mature Hughes
The Canucks named Quinn Hughes the 15th captain in franchise history a month before the 2023-24 season began. Hughes was the youngest captain in the league last season, a mark he did not take lightly.
Vancouver reached the playoffs during his rookie season but failed to play in the postseason the following three years. That flipped a switch for Hughes and his Canucks teammates who were determined to right the ship after Vancouver fired head coaches in each of the previous two seasons.
“Honestly I can’t talk enough about my growth, even going back further to the past 18 months,” Hughes said. “I mean, we’d been losing at the time and it was really hard seeing all these other teams have success when we weren’t.
“It forced me and a bunch of the guys on the team to reevaluate what we wanted to do and what kind of team or organization you wanted to be. I think we did a great job of that, for sure. And now we’re going to continue to take another step because I feel we can contend the next couple of years.”
Under head coach Rick Tocchet, the Canucks have a .648 winning percentage since he took over on January 22, 2023. Tocchet was named the NHL's top coach in May after leading Vancouver to a 26-point increase from the previous season.
There is no denying that Quinn Hughes is a special talent and could have reached these heights regardless of the coaching staff surrounding him. He seems adamant that Tocchet and his crew helped develop his game two-fold over the last year and a half.
The truth of the matter is, the Canucks have a star and he has the hardware to back it up.
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